


To Crash and Burn

by Pumpkins Angst Club (PumpkinMaryam)



Series: The Pumpkin MTR Verse [1]
Category: Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Genre: Carl is hiding something, Gen, Please Don't Hate Me, Secrets, gratuitous angst, i am literally terrible, i feel so evil right now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 19:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinMaryam/pseuds/Pumpkins%20Angst%20Club
Summary: Wilbur hasn't learned his lesson about messing with the time machine, and in the process unintentionally uncovers a dark family secret. Why are his parents and Carl acting so strange? Come here to find out...and then regret it afterwards.





	1. Wlbur Never Learns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the entire MTR fandom](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=the+entire+MTR+fandom).



> I don't really have much to say, except...I'm sorry in advance.

In the days following young Cornelius, or as he was known, "Lewis", having arrived at the future, the Robinson household almost felt a little too oddly calm. This wasn't a terribly normal occurrence--something was _always_ happening--but this week just seemed a little too much on the boring side, for the Robinsons.   
For any other family, this might not seem strange, but this wasn't your normal family.  
Of course, this wasn't to say that the normal, daily activities weren't happening--things were ticking perfectly in place like clockwork--Aunt Billie raced her toy trains against Uncle Gaston's firing himself out of a canon, Laszlo and Tallulah were finding _any_ reason to argue with one another, Art made his pizza deliveries, Franny rehearsed with her frogs. Just nothing particularly special seemed to be on the agenda as of late.   
There just wasn't all that much to say or do.  
Of course, it was days like these that lead young Wilbur Robinson to get himself into the worst kinds of trouble.  
As a young teenager who hadn't learned his lesson before would do, Wilbur found himself sneaking his way down to the garage to go on another time travel adventure--he snickered and rubbed his hands together, seeing both time machines in his line of sight. He sprinted over, believing himself to be home free, until--  
"Young man, what do you think you're doing?" the stern voice of Cornelius Robinson stated this. The tall blonde patriarch of the Robinson family stepped out of the shadows, crossing his arms, and glaring sternly at his young raven-haired son. His face showed pure disappointment.  
Wilbur immediately halted himself, the rubber soles of his shoes squeaking against the ground with his abrupt stop. He laughed nervously, and tried to find the words to make up a good reason he was down there.  
"UH...I was uh...coming down here to refuel the time machines!" Wilbur pulled this excuse out of his ass.  
"Wilbur..." Cornelius didn't buy it for even a moment.  
"Um..."  
"Wilbur, you know you aren't supposed to play around with the time machines! These are highly advanced pieces of technology that can alter the fabric of time itself which can lead to catastrophic events that I can't even begin to desc--"  
"I _know_ dad! I was erased from time for like, a whole half hour! You were there!" Wilbur pointed out, gesticulating towards Cornelius.  
Cornelius sighed. "Wilbur, I don't want you to get hurt. I don't just do these things to be a hard-ass--"  
"It sure feels like you do!"  
"Wilbur! I'm trying to protect you from harm! How do you think I would feel if I lost you!"  
"But dad--"  
"No buts Wilbur! You can't just be reckless like this!" Cornelius interrupted Wilbur.  
"Maybe I won't be reckless this time!"  
"Wilbur, I don't believe that for even a second! I know how you are!" Cornelius sighed "I expect better behavior from my son--"  
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME BE A NORMAL KID!" Wilbur snapped, out of nowhere.  
Cornelius stopped in his tracks, and seemed to need a moment to process this. His mouth was agape.  
Wilbur cringed a bit, and began to back away. This was making him feel very uneasy.  
"Wilbur, just go to your room." Cornelius said, clenching his fists.  
Wilbur wasted no time whatsoever making his way out of the garage, feeling nervous as ever.   
Never once, in the entirety of his life, had he seen his father act in such a way.   
It was completely out of character--even when Cornelius had disciplined him in the past, never once did he act like that.  
Once Wilbur got to his room, and shut the door behind him, he sat on his bed, to contemplate what might be the problem with his father. He heard the door open and looked over.  
"Hey lil buddy...I heard you got grounded" said Carl, as he sat down next to Wilbur.  
"...Already? That was 2 minutes ago?"  
"...I _might_ have been in the garage eavesdropping" the golden robot shrugged, swaying his head from side to side a little bit.  
Wilbur sighed. Typical Carl. He shook his head a little. "I just...I wish my dad would let me be a normal kid for once! Every single time I want to do something fun he never lets me! What is he so scared of!!" Wilbur ranted   
Carl whimpered, and was holding his own bent finger into his mouth in an overly conspicuous fashion.  
"...Carl?" Wilbur tilted his head a little, looking at the bot strangely.  
"I....have to go now." Carl immediately hopped up, running out of Wilbur's room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Wilbur completely confused.  
"He's...hiding something from me."  
\---  
Very early, the following morning, Wilbur went to the kitchen to find Carl, to find out what exactly was his deal the previous day. He peeked his head through the door.  
"....Carl?" he looked around the kitchen to find him.   
He spotted the robot at the stove, cooking up breakfast for the family. He was whistling a tune while cooking, shaking the frying pan side to side to make sure each egg was cooked perfectly.  
"Hey...Carl?" Wilbur approached him.  
"Oh hey, little buddy, how are you this morning?" Carl turned his head towards Wilbur.  
"Carl...are you hiding something from me?" Wilbur crossed his arms and gave the golden robot a serious look.  
Carl froze for a moment, letting go of the frying pan, as the eggs began to bubble, as they overcooked.  
Wilbur tilted his head, expecting an answer--to which Carl began screaming and ran as far as his little robot legs could take him. Wilbur watched the whole time.  
"That's....weird." He was staring at the door still, until the smell of burning eggs assaulted his nose.   
He left the kitchen, and decided to find his mom to ask about Carl's weird behavior.  
As would be expected, she was having a quick early morning rehearsal with her frogs. Wilbur opened the door slightly, and immediately heard the chorus of "Where is Your Heart At", while he walked towards his mother, and tapped her on the shoulder.  
Franny, who had very much been In The Zone, was a little startled, which made her jump a little, bit, causing the entire frog band to also halt their music playing.  
Franny turned to face her son. "Wilbur, sweetie, you scared me there." she laughed nervously  
"Uh..Mom...Carl has been acting...strange"  
"How so, honey?" Franny frowned a little, putting her hand to her chest.  
"I think he's hiding something from me..." Wilbur stroked his chin, whilst looking down "Do you think he has a secret girlfriend or--" Wilbur looked back up and saw his mother was frozen in fear.  
"U-uh...No he's not hiding anything! He's just...being weird! You know Carl!" Franny nervously laughed "I need to keep practicing with the band, you should go eat your breakfast before it gets cold!" Franny essentially rushed Wilbur out the door, to get him out the room as quick as possible.  
Wilbur was only more confused.   
Which made him even more determined to figure out what in the world was going on.


	2. 2014

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Franny has something to tell Cornelius, and it's going to change his life in the most unexpected way.

It was the year 2014 at the Robinson household, and a young Cornelius Robinson, age 19, was working diligently on another of his new invention ideas, a prototype robot friend.  
It was a warm spring day, the perfect day for Cornelius to get lost in his work. The gold rays of sun illuminated his lab, and he sat attentively at his desk, looking over the schematics, comparing them to what he had built so far of Carl. He picked up a wrench, and got to work.  
He was tightening a bolt when he heard foot steps coming into his lab. He stopped what he was doing and turned his swivel chair around, to face the visitor.  
"Neil?" said the soft, all too familiar voice of Francesca Framagucci, Cornelius's girlfriend of the past 3 years. She was wearing a powder blue sun dress, with her jet black hair pulled into a tight bun, with a matching blue ribbon tied into a big bow--this was her signature look at this point in time.  
She appeared to be visibly anxious, biting her lip, avoiding eye contact, and hiding her hands behind her back. She tilted her head a little, opening her mouth and whimpering softly.  
"Oh, hey Fran!" He was always glad to see her, and got out of his seat, and began to approach her.  
"Neil...we need to talk about something..." she said, her tone of worry never changing.  
For a moment Cornelius felt a deep pang of worry. He _really_ hoped she wasn't planning on breaking it off with him--that would ruin the timeline beyond repair.   
Of course, his worries were wiped away when she grabbed his hand.  
"Wh-what...What is it Franny?" now he bit his lip.  
"Neil...I'm pregnant."  
Cornelius's blood went colder than the tundras of the north.   
_How_ could this be possible?   
Well, Neil knew _how_ it happened--but Wilbur wasn't supposed to be born for another decade--unless maybe Neil was misremembering the dates?  
No...no of course not! That wouldn't make sense!  
But he knew he only had one child...so what exactly was going on here??  
Cornelius was absolutely spaced out and confused, unable to process any of what was going on at this current moment.  
Franny, unfortunately read this as him being angry.  
"I...shouldn't have told you..." She felt hurt, and began to walk away, pulling her hand from his grip, as she began to walk down the lab steps.  
This, of course brought Cornelius right back to reality.  
"Wait! Franny!" He began to go after her.  
She turned to look at him, already beginning to tear up, frowning at him.  
"Franny...I love you! I want to be with you, for the rest of my life!" he grabbed her hand again.  
"But you...were acting strange." Franny shook her head.  
"Fran...I love you so much!" he whimpered a little. "I don't care if you're pregnant! I'd be happy to raise kids with you!"  
"You...you would?"  
"Of _course_ I would!" he pulled her into a reassuring hug, and kissed her forehead gently. "Marry me?" he asked her very gently.  
"Yes..." she hugged him tighter. "I love you too..." she sniffled a little.  
In the following months, Franny and Cornelius got married--it was a small ceremony, only Franny's brother's, and Cornelius's parents were there.   
Franny's brother, Gaston, also moved in shortly after the wedding, as well.  
For the entirety of Franny's pregnancy, Cornelius refused to even _think_ about his lab--he wanted to make sure that Franny was as comfortable as possible at all times. Of course, this did cause problems at times, since Cornelius became very protective of Franny, worrying about her at all hours of the day.  
Franny even tried to assure Cornelius that she was fine, but that didn't make him any less worried--after all he'd be very sad if anything bad happened to any member of his family whatsoever.  
Then, the fateful day came some months later.  
It was shortly after dinner time, when Cornelius was helping clean up the table, when Franny approached him, panting.   
"Neil...I think my water broke."  
Cornelius immediately went into panic mode. "Oh...Oh no...Uh..." He turned to Gaston.  
"Get the car ready!" He basically barked to him  
Gaston, of course, knew this was a very serious matter and did as Cornelius said, and ran to get the car keys.  
"Just breathe, Fran, everything is going to be fine" he said, picking up his wife bridal style, and carrying her towards the front door as quickly as he could.   
Gaston was waiting outside, holding the car door open, so that Cornelius could put Franny inside. He buckled her in, then ran to the drivers side, grabbing the keys from Gaston (who hopped in the back) and immediately driving as fast as he could to the hospital.  
Franny was powering through being in labor like an absolute champ.  
Once they arrived at hospital, Cornelius immediately got help.  
After hours of painful labor for Franny, Blanche Robinson was brought into the world.  
"Neil, she looks just like you" Franny said, holding their newborn infant daughter in her arms.  
The baby had faint wisps of blond hair on her head, and Cornelius almost swore he was looking at the doppelganger of his infant self.  
Franny handed Cornelius the baby, and he felt himself get emotional, his eyes welling up in tears.  
"Neil, you're crying" Franny laughed a little.  
"I'm sorry, I just" he laughed a bit too "I just can't believe it..."  
He was happy--but deep down, he was worried, just the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist 1 of 3 deployed! :)


End file.
